The demigod leaned forward, his gaze penetrating despite the wide, childish eyes. "Do you know why you're here?"
"Yes, Koenma-sama." There could hardly be any doubt.
"Tell me, then, how this situation came to be. Whose idea was it to switch your brother's soul into your body?"
"Mine. I suggested it. I wanted--"
"That's unimportant now." The child gripped the arms of his chair. "You somehow convinced Botan to go along with this plan by playing her emotions like you play that flute of yours."
The Seishi felt his anger rising at the accusation. "That's not true!" He could not deny that he had the capacity--he had been trained to manipulate others--but he would never use her that way. He had to make that absolutely clear.
Koenma abandoned the barrier of his desk and walked around to stand in front of it. Even including the height of his hat, he barely came up to the musician's waist. "What do you expect to do while you're here? Despite what you may think, the afterlife takes constant management; we have no room for dead weight."
"Of course." Amiboshi straightened. "I'm perfectly willing to place my skills at your disposal."
"Your file says that you were a healer in your home village." He spread his arms. "There are no living humans here for you to heal."
Even with his background, the flautist had to keep reminding himself to take the cocky, ridiculous-looking demigod seriously. The son of Enma must be very good at what he did, or he wouldn't have been entrusted with so much responsibility. Still, that was little consolation when it felt as though he were being reprimanded by a toddler. "I realize that. But you do occasionally work with mortals. And I have my music."
The child dismissed that with a sniff. "More trickery. Do you suppose my father would look kindly upon someone influencing the minds of his subjects?"
The musician shook his head in frustration. Everything he said was being twisted into an unfavorable light. Would he always be haunted by his past? "Yes, I have that power," he admitted, "but I don't make use of it unless it's for a very good reason. I did it once in an attempt to prevent a war. I did it in the hope of saving lives. If you want to condemn me for that, so be it."
Koenma clasped his hands behind his back. "Go on."
Amiboshi wondered if the glimmer of amusement in those wide eyes was his imagination. "My magic doesn't have to work that way. Music by itself can be quite valuable, especially to those who have few outlets for relaxation." The demigod surely knew his realm well enough to draw his own conclusions.
Koenma gave the offer serious consideration. Finally he nodded. "Fine. Prove that you're worth the trouble you've caused me, and I'll let you stay. If you step out of line, however..." He glared.
"Understood." He turned to go.
"One more thing."
The Seishi stopped and faced the child once more, wondering what other limits would be placed on him. "Yes?"
"What do you intend toward Botan?"
It took a moment for the words to register, then another for the musician to find his voice. "Botan?" he echoed while he regained his balance. "I don't..."
"I can't have Death distracted. You must see the importance of that, ne? I ask you again: What do you intend toward her?"
"Nothing, Koenma-sama." Amiboshi could tell only the stark truth. "I intend nothing."
"What would you do without me?"
From his perch on their bedroom windowsill, Hiei snorted. He wasn't sleepy enough to turn in, but he also wasn't restless enough to go elsewhere. He watched the stars blinking down at him. "Feeling modest tonight?" he asked, not bothering to hide his sarcasm.
"No, really," Kurama insisted, sitting up on their futon. "What would you do without me here?"
"Same as I'd do with you." Usually it was the fire demon who left on the occasions they were apart, since he didn't have the same ties to work and classes in the Ningenkai. However, if the fox wanted to stretch his legs a bit, that was his business. It wouldn't change Hiei's routine...much. He paused, smirking at his reflection in the glass and licking one of his fangs. "Except without--"
"Hiei, I'm serious. What if I were gone forever?"
The youkai turned away from the view outside to regard his lifemate. He hadn't expected the question. They rarely discussed the topic. They both knew that, despite their skills and constant training, they were far from invulnerable. There was no point in dwelling upon the possibility of defeat, it would only drag at their spirits. If they were going to bring it up, though, they might as well speak plainly. "You mean dead."
"I mean *gone*. Vanished, body and soul."
Hiei frowned. He took it for granted that they would always be together--if not in this life, then in the next. A world without Kurama? He wouldn't want to exist in such a place.
Something was obviously bothering the youko a great deal, because he continued to prod, seeking a reaction. "Would you remember me?"
"You're too annoying to forget." It was the closest the fire demon could come to admitting the truth. You're part of me now, crazy fox. Don't you dare imagine you'd slip from my thoughts, even for a moment.
Kurama sighed in resignation and plopped back against his pillow. "Never mind."
Hiei hopped to the floor and was beside him in a flash, sitting cross-legged on the blankets. "Are you planning on disappearing?" He kept his face impassive as always, his tone mildly curious, but he couldn't relax the tension in his shoulders that betrayed his concern.
"Not at all." The redhead reached out and rubbed his knee reassuringly. "I intend to spend the next several centuries thinking up new ways to torment and delight my fire demon."
"Hn." That sounded more like the youko he knew.
"Come here," Kurama beckoned.
The youkai hesitated, wondering if it was torment or delight his lifemate had in mind. Finally he relented, deciding that either option would be worth it. He stretched out against the fox's side and draped one arm over his chest.
Kurama hugged him close. "I don't ever want you to be alone."
Hiei's fingers curled into a fist, taking a handful of the redhead's pajamas with them. "Then don't leave," he said simply.
The youko remained quiet after that. Perhaps it meant the matter had been settled.
But probably not.
Not everyone could honestly tell his mother that the high point of his week had been visiting with friends from another dimension.
Luckily, Shiori took the conversation in stride. She had more than a year's experience dealing with bizarre revelations from her youko son. This one wasn't as difficult as most--it was almost as if friends he had made in another country had dropped by. Looking at it that way, it was easy to respond to his story. Besides, the tale of the four beast gods' kingdoms was fascinating, even if she was receiving the condensed version. "The Seishi must have been very special to you," she commented when he had finished.
He nodded. "They welcomed Hiei and me, and they helped us even though they were under no obligation."
She mulled over the events of the past and present that he had related. "I feel sorry for Tamahome-san, being separated from his wife at such a young age." Her sense of sympathy for the man she had never met prompted her words. She hadn't realized they would affect her son so profoundly, but the change in his expression was like a dark cloud coming to rest. "What's wrong, Shuuichi?" It didn't take a mother's intuition to know something troubled him.
"I..." His emotions warred with each other on his open face. She knew he didn't like her to worry about him--not that she could do otherwise, even if his life were as normal as he tried to make it appear. "May I ask you a personal question?"
"Of course you may." She couldn't imagine anything too personal for her to tell him, if he truly needed the information. Not after everything he had shared with her.
"How did you feel when you lost your husband?"
She considered seriously. The old pain had faded gradually over time, but she could remember when it had been fresh and overwhelming. "I missed him a great deal." That almost went without saying. "I had expected to grow old with him, then suddenly he was gone, and nothing I could do would bring him back. I was...I suppose 'devastated' is a good description."
"How did you recover from that?"
She smiled. "You'll have to forgive a rather sentimental answer."
"I think I could use a bit of motherly sentimentality at the moment," he admitted.
"It's very simple." She touched his hand across the table. "I had you. You depended on me to be strong, to get back on my feet and take care of you. You kept me busy when I would have dwelled only on my loss. You filled a house that would have been unbearably empty. On top of everything, you were a part of him that stayed with me." She reclaimed her hand with a light laugh. "Now that I've completely embarrassed you..."
He shook his head. "Not at all. Actually, it sounds like what Chichiri told me. When they lost their emperor and their Miko, Hoshi-ouji kept the Seishi together--he probably kept Tamahome alive. He was someone to protect. Someone to ward off the loneliness."
"Do you mind if I ask *you* a personal question? What caused this curiosity?"
"I've been considering my mortality," he said quietly. "I've never had so many attachments before, ties to people who would grieve if anything were to happen to me. Most of them have loved ones for support, like you have your new family." He studied the tabletop.
She would have to be quite dense not to figure out where he was leading. "You're concerned about Hiei." The two were still newlyweds; it was unfortunate that his thoughts were already so heavily burdened, but as he had pointed out, he had personally witnessed a precedent.
"His only family is his sister, and she'll soon marry Kuwabara-kun."
Shiori winced. The rivalry between the fire demon and 'that idiot human' ran so deep even *she* knew of it. "Have you spoken to him about this?"
"I tried." His voice filled with exasperation. "Either he didn't understand, or he wouldn't *let* himself understand." He sighed. "He's not one to plan for the future."
She wanted to take her little boy in her arms and tell him everything would be fine, he would live happily ever after, and she would protect him from all the world's evils. But she couldn't, for too many reasons. She could advise him, comfort him, and--most importantly--love him, but she could no longer shelter him. He had to face his own fears and make his own decisions. "What will you do next?"
"I keep thinking that I should give him something to help him stay focused, something of me to remind him of our time together, should the worst ever happen. Something that will make him hang tight long enough for Yukina to reach him through his defenses." He shrugged slightly. "What that something *is*...depends on him."
It never ceased to amaze her how thoroughly he evaluated everything to which he set his mind. It was no doubt a result of the centuries he had survived by his wits, but that knowledge made it no less startling. It was a shame her answer to the problem bore no relevance to his situation. "I'm sorry my experience wasn't of much use to you."
His eyes widened. "On the contrary. It was exactly what I needed to hear." His lips curved up into the smile that always warmed her heart. "Arigatou, 'Kaasan."
Her own spirits rose in response to his happiness. "You're very welcome, Shuuichi." As far as she was concerned, he would always be welcome to anything within her power to give.
After all, he was her son.
"Konnichiwa, Botan-chan." Amiboshi's greeting caught the blue-haired girl by surprise. She hadn't realized that anyone else was in this section of the library. Glancing up from the book she had been reading, Botan looked at the handsome young man in front of her, and her eyes widened at his appearance.
"Ko...Konnichiwa, Amiboshi-san." *Where* had he gotten that outfit? The flautist was dressed in black trousers with a brilliant blue tunic in the typical wrap style which cris-crossed his chest, baring what Botan had in her most private thoughts considered to be the sexiest collarbones she had ever seen. The ensemble was cinched at his waist with a black leather belt--and was that a dragon on the silver buckle? Not wanting to embarrass herself by leaning closer to inspect the design further, Botan raised her eyes and noticed the strip of blue cloth that he had fastened across his forehead and tied at the back of his head. She sighed softly. What was it about guys who wore headbands? Finally meeting his eyes, she smiled brightly, determinedly pushing away her distracting thoughts as she concentrated on her role as guide to the Reikai. "Can I help you?"
"Well, actually, I was sent to help *you*," Amiboshi explained, returning her smile. "George said that Koenma-sama had sent you on a research expedition in the library and, after seeing the size of this place," he paused to glance around, "I can understand why George called it an 'expedition.' It took me a half hour just to find you, let alone trying to find a specific book!"
Botan laughed in appreciation. It *was* an awfully large library. "I've already found the book that Koenma-sama needs." She gestured to a heavy tome sitting on the table. "I was just taking a moment to research something else that I was curious about." She closed the book she had been reading and flipped it over so that the flautist couldn't read the title, then tilted her head to the side and grinned up at him charmingly. "Why? Are you bored?"
He chuckled, and she marveled at the change in him since she had first met him a few weeks ago. "It's simply that I don't have any duties at the moment, and I feel I should be doing something useful. That's why I went to George. He mentioned that you might need someone else to help look for Koenma-sama's book."
"Mmm, all I have to do now is take it to him." She paused and gazed measuringly at his arms. "It *is* heavy, though. Are you very strong?" she asked with a wink.
Amiboshi blinked a little at the question, but correctly surmised from her playful attitude that she was joking with him. "Hai, strong enough."
"Good. *You* can carry it then." She stood up, grateful that she had obeyed her impulse to wear her black outfit with the red leather jacket. She knew how well the ensemble flattered her figure, and she liked the boost in confidence it gave her. Besides, hunting around the castle library was not a good activity to do when dressed in her favorite silk kimono. *That* outfit was intended to put the people Botan escorted to the afterlife at ease and make the Reikai guide seem nonthreatening. After all, some people had been known to react badly when meeting Death for the first time.
She carefully tucked the book that had been absorbing her attention for the last hour into a satchel and slung it over her shoulder. "Shall we go?" she asked, inwardly reveling in her success at coaxing another smile from the quiet Seishi.
He nodded and gathered the heavy book into his arms. With Botan leading the way and making many twists and turns through the seemingly endless rows of bookshelves, they were out of the library in a matter of minutes and on their way to Koenma's office.
"How do you do that?" The question was full of admiration.
"Do you mean find my way around?" Botan clarified. "Practice," she said succinctly. "You don't want to know how many research projects I've done for Koenma-sama."
"What will you do now? Is there anything I can help you with?"
"I'll have to ask Koenma-sama if he has anything else for me." The two paused outside the prince of the underworld's office. "Here, I'll take that in to him, and you can wait here and talk with George." She waved at the overworked oni seated at his desk, looking just as harassed as usual, then took the book from Amiboshi. "His office can be *such* a mess, and he hates it when people take up the only space that isn't covered by stacks of papers." Botan leaned toward the Seishi and whispered confidingly, "He says it makes him feel claustrophobic, but I think he's just being anti-social."
George glanced up at the soft snort that escaped Amiboshi and smiled in reaction. It was so good to see the serious Seishi enjoying himself for once. Of course, if anyone could make a person smile, it was Botan.
A few minutes later, the blue-haired guide returned with a look of amazement on her face.
"What is it, Botan-chan?" the flautist asked, concerned.
"Koenma-sama just gave me the rest of the day off," she answered dazedly. "George, has he been feeling all right?"
The oni hid a grin behind his hand and coughed. "Ahem, actually, I think Koenma-sama was hoping that you would take the opportunity to show Amiboshi-san around the Makai. It's the only one of the three worlds he hasn't visited." Privately, George was thinking that he might as well take advantage of his boss' uncharacteristic fit of generosity and do a bit of matchmaking. After all, even Death needed some time simply to be a girl in the company of an attractive young man.
"Good idea, George!" Botan turned to look at the Seishi mischievously. "How do you feel about flying?"